Bionicle G2: New Legends, New Heroes

Chapter 10: Refraction

"How... much... farther?!" Rhem could only ask over the howling wind. His hands were in front to protect his eyes from the blizzard, only able to see the shining light walking ahead.

"Not far!" the glowing Maram called over his shoulder. "If your Protector is right... then we should... find the piece in this storm!"

Rhem groaned. His cold 'Protector' instructed him and Maram to begin searching for one of the six pieces of this so-called Forbidden Mask. Hunarr suggested to find anything strange like snow storms or ice formations. Even though the land was covered in them, the two Toa soon enough found the gigantic swirl of cold wind and snowflakes in the middle of a clear and sunny tundra. Traversing it was, of course, hard, since Rhem could only drag his feet in the snow.

Maram, heaving his giant body forward, suddenly shouted, "I see something! Be ready!"

A second later, Rhem thought the Toa of Light grew brighter. He soon realized there was another light. In the distance, it was no smaller than a speck, but it flashed in the blizzard brightly and casted its golden light atop Maram's pale body.

"Young Rhem-!"

"On it!" Rhem acknowledged and focused on the light.

The snow and wind slowed, yet Rhem didn't breathe any easier. He kept his eyes forward, hoping to not lose focus and let the snow hit him like that ball did three days ago. His steps were steady, not too slow or too fast. Walking around the stiff and slow-moving Maram, Rhem approached the light.

Even though time was delayed, the snowflakes that hung in mid-air made it hard for Rhem to clearly see the light. And the closer he got to his target, the thicker snow grew. Rhem managed to get through the worst of it, wiping his hands at the snow and squinting his eyes at the gleaming metal at epicenter of the blizzard. The thing lying on the frosty ground looked like the piece that brown Protector Ferra had shown the other Toa.

Rhem almost tripped when he bent down to pick up the piece of the Forbidden Mask. "Wooh, too close," he sighed in relief as he fortunately regained his footing and scooped the golden metal in his hands.

Unfortunately, time slipped through his control again.

The full force of the blizzard flung Rhem off his feet. "GAH!" he screamed and closely held his fragment while being blown aside.

He was not sure how long he had been flying around before he hit afamiliar giant. "Fear not, I have you!" Maram shouted, and he dragged himself,a dazed Rhem, and another shard of the Forbidden Mask out of the blizzard.

-----

Maram released his hold on Rhem once they had left the blizzard. After dimming his power, he fell on his knees and took in the light from the faint morning sun in the cloudy sky above. "How do you feel?" Maram asked Rhem lying next to him and groaning into the snow.

"Dizzy..."

"And the fragment?"

Still groaning, Rhem raised a hand to produce the piece. Maram nodded and praised his fellow Toa, "You have done well, but our work isn't finished yet."

"Yeah, I know," Rhem said as he slowly stood up. "We have, what, six of these to look for?"

"Three now." Maram too rose and walked back to Izotor's Glacier.

Rhem, walking beside Maram, looked at the Ice fragment in his hands. "Hard to imagine this little thing could do all that back there," Rhem commented, referring to the blizzard the two escaped from.

"True power can sometimes come from the most unexpected places," Maram replied, eyes forward.

"You mean like me and my power, right?" Rhem asked, aware of the uncomfortable shift in Maram's walk. "What's the big deal, anyway? Why was it so bad for me to say who I am to the other Toa?"